Kobach demands answers from 6 school districts on transgender identity policies

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach warned four districts, including Topeka Unified School District 501, that their policies violate parental rights when they advise school staff not to inform parents of a student’s transgender identity.

All the cited district policies say school staff should avoid telling parents or other staff members a student identifies as either transgender or gender nonconforming unless the student authorizes it. The policies also specify to comply with any laws that may direct school personnel to inform parents of a student’s gender identity.

“A child changing his or her gender identity has major long-term medical and psychological ramifications,” Kobach said in a news release. “Parents should know, and have an opportunity to be involved in, such an important aspect of their well-being.”

Kansas AG cites cases on visitation, custody, private school enrollment

Kansas law does not obligate teachers to inform parents of a student’s gender identity, but Kobach cited three Supreme Court cases that deal with parental rights, though not directly related to school policies. The cases — Troxel v. Granville, Stanley v. Illinois and Pierce v. Society of Sisters — are about parental rights regarding visitation, custody and private school enrollment.

Topeka USD 501 is joined by the Kansas City USD 500, Olathe USD 233 and Shawnee Mission USD 512 in the letter, which was sent Dec. 7 and released Thursday. Kobach said Belle Plaine USD 357 and Maize USD 266 either rescinded or amended their policies after being contacted by his office.

Kobach learned about the policies through Parents Defending Education, a conservative nonprofit seeking to amend curriculum on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender. It listed more than 1,000 districts having policies that school staff can or should withhold a student’s transgender identity from their parents.

Topeka USD 501 says it works with parents and students on legal rights

Aarion Gray, general director of instructional services at Topeka USD 501, said the district consults with parents while protecting everyone’s legal rights.

“USD 501 works collaboratively with parents and their student(s) to protect their legal rights while maintaining a positive learning environment for all.  USD 501 remains confident their regulation and practices comply with current laws as written and interpreted by the courts while protecting the legal rights of both the parents and their student(s),” Gray, general director of instructional services at USD 501, said in a statement sent to The Capital-Journal.

The AG also asked the Kansas Association of School Boards if it assisted in drafting the policies. Belle Plaine USD 357 cites KASB as being an adviser on its manual of school policies, and Kobach wrote that he believes KASB is involved due to the similarity of language among policies and the organization's opposition to a state law that banned transgender girls from competing in school sports.

“Consequently, my office suspects your organization was involved in drafting the policies quoted above,” Kobach wrote. “Has KASB surrendered to woke gender ideology to the point of jettisoning both propriety and common sense?”

Every public school district in the state is a member of KASB, including the vast majority that weren’t identified in Parents Defending Education’s report.

Kansas Association of School Boards points to community decisions

Kristin Magette, assistant executive director of communication and engagement at KASB, said the organization doesn’t comment on individual members policies, and that their legal services used when drafting policies is privileged legal advice. She said when KASB assists in crafting policies, it attempts to reflect the needs of the individual district.

“We believe that board policies are a reflection of community values because those policies are, and the accountability for them rests, on locally elected board members. We believe that our members are in the best position to make decisions for their community,” Magette said.

Kobach’s letter to KASB and the six school district had requested a response by Dec. 20. His news release didn’t specify what action, if any, his office would take if the policies weren’t amended.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kobach says school districts' trans policies violate parental rights